Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors General Treatment

5 CONTINUOUS STIRRED-TANK REACTORS (GENERAL TREATMENT) 

The use of the energy balance to analyze or size an ideal CSTR is not as complex mathematically as for an ideal batch reactor or an ideal PFR. Therefore, in this section, we will not limit ourselves to an adiabatic CSTR. The adiabatic case will be covered as part of a more general treatment. 

A jacket is not the only device that can be used to transfer heat in a stirred-tank reactor, or in a batch reactor. It is also common to use a coil of tubing that is inserted into the reactor through the top head. In fact, it is not uncommon to use both a jacket and a coil. A third possibility is to circulate the reactor contents through an external heat exchanger, although this alternative is less common. The analysis of all three of these heat-transfer techniques is similar. 

Another option for heat removal from a CSTR or batch reactor is to vaporize some of the contents of the reactor, condense some or all of the vapor in an external condenser, and return the liquid condensate to the reactor. This technique is feasible when the reactor can be operated at a temperature where the rate of vaporization is large enough to allow a significant rate of heat removal. Analyzing vaporization/condensation heat removal is more complex than analyzing heat transfer through a jacket or an internal coil. The following development is based on the latter means of heat transfer. 

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Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors (General Treatment) 271... 

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